Wolf hunters and their "trophy"

With the intent to protect moose and caribou hunting in Alaska, aerial hunters chase wolves to exhaustion and shoot them, a practice recently deemed illegal by a Superior Court Judge in a suit filed by Friends of Animals. Almost 450 wolves have been killed by aerial gunners in the past three years and the state has issued 157 permits this winter — under slightly changed rules — to pilot-gunner teams to kill upwards of 500 wolves. Priscilla Feral, Executive Director of FoA, will discuss their renewed call for a tourism boycott of Alaska, and Rick Steiner, Professor and Conservation Specialist for the University of Alaska Marine Advisory Program, will also be on hand to give us a local perspective on the hunt.

Then, Sinikka Crosland, Executive Director of The Canadian Horse Defense Coalition, will discuss the slaughtering of horses for human consumption. While the US Department of Agriculture granted a loophole to meatpacking plants to sidetrack a temporary ban on horse slaughter and export for meat, many people don’t even know the practice exists. Canada kills around 62,000 horses a year to produce meat considered a delicacy that is served across the country and exported overseas. We will learn how horses from the racing industry, the wild, family ranches, and the Pregnant Mare Urine (PMU) industry (for production of the hormone replacement drug, Premarin) enter the slaughterhouse pipeline, and we’ll tackle the issue of possible widespread neglect and cruelty if the industry is stopped.

For more info on the horse slaughter:

• SHARK (Showing Animals Respect and Kindness):HorseSlaughter.wmv (video taken by Humane Farming Association)
  *Note: in contrast, the humane euthanasia of two ailing horses (friends) is shown.
• Last Chance for Animals: http://www.lcanimal.org/invest/index.htm (scroll down page and click on Premarin Investigation Videos).

Listen right now:

or download an mp3 of the interview.